Loans to the private sector fell 0.6 percent from the same month a year ago, data released by the European Central Bank showed on Thursday, coming in below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters for no change.

 The flow of loans to non-financial firms fell 10 billion euros after rising by 8 billion euros in July. The monthly flow of loans to households showed a gain of 7 billion euros after a drop of 1 billion euros in the previous month.

Euro zone M3 money supply - a more general measure of cash in the economy - grew at an annual pace of 2.9 percent in August, slowing down from 3.6 percent in July and missing the consensus of 3.2 percent from analysts polled by Reuters.